Inconsistent and Arbitrary Age-Based Policies During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced countries to issue public measures to address threats to the safety of citizens and the healthcare system. The role of chronological age in the ways in which different countries coped with the pandemic is particularly intriguing. Based on pool of purposely selected twenty-one countries, this article compares a variety of urgent public health policies that have been enforced during the first wave of the pandemic. It analyzes the ways in which countries introduced instructions related to older people and/or chronological age in relation to: Lockdown, exit and triage policies. It also examined whether the issue of long-term care settings (LTCS) received special attention in the primary guidelines developed in response to the lockdown and exit strategies. The analysis demonstrates inconsistencies within and across countries in the enactment and implementation of age-based measures. Moreover, it suggests that both acts of omission and commission based on age can be interpreted as ageist, arbitrary, not based on evidence, too inclusive, and offensive toward older people and neglectful of specific risk groups.

A Scoping Review of Research on Older People and Intergenerational Relations in the Context of Climate Change.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In view of the inherited temporal dimension of climate change, this study aims to highlight diverse intergenerational effects and coping strategies by examining the state of literature on older people and intergenerational relations in the context of climate change. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A scoping review of peer-reviewed scientific literature was conducted. We searched the following bibliographical data sets: PubMed, Web of Science, and APA PsycNet in addition to a snowballing search based on Google Scholar. The primary search was conducted between September 22, 2021 and September 26, 2021, using variations of the search terms: older people AND intergenerational AND climate change. Two independent raters classified the articles using prespecified inclusion and exclusion criteria. RESULTS: In total, 20 articles were maintained for data extraction. Articles reflect 2 poles in relation to older people and intergenerational relations in the context of climate change. The first emphasizes intergenerational conflicts and differences, whereas the second stresses solidarity and transmission of knowledge and practices between the generations. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Both older and younger people are affected by age-based discrimination in the context of climate change. Generational differences in energy consumption and attitudes toward climate change exist. Nonetheless, these can be overcome by stressing the solidarity between the generations and the ability of older people to contribute to the climate change movement as well as by the ability of both young and old to transmit knowledge and practices related to sustainability.